


i know the chancellor is a good man

by rosestone



Series: powerfist and cinnamon roll [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, F/M, GFY
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 03:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11958636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosestone/pseuds/rosestone
Summary: Obi-Wan knew Chancellor Palpatine must have had a good reason to put Anakin on the Jedi Council.  He just wished he didn't have to clean up the mess.





	i know the chancellor is a good man

“Obi-Wan!”  Padmé beamed at him through the hologram.  “Were you looking for Anakin?  He isn’t in at the moment.”

“I was looking for you, actually.”

Her brows flickered down briefly.  “Oh?”

“What would you do,” Obi-Wan said, choosing his words carefully, “if you had to tell Anakin something you knew he wasn’t going to like hearing, at all, but that you had a duty to tell him?”

“Well,” Padmé said, frowning, “I suppose that depends on what I had to tell him.  What’s wrong?  Is it the Council?”

“Somewhat,” Obi-Wan said, letting out a sigh, “but not what you might expect.”

She raised both brows, expectant, and he sighed again.  “Please understand.  What I’m saying is entirely private, and business only of the Jedi Council; if I hadn’t verified the security of your holo terminal myself, I wouldn’t be calling you now.  In fact – is there anyone else in your apartment right now?”

“Sabé’s in the outer room,” she said, “and of course there are clone troopers outside, but there’s nobody in here.”

“Good.”  Obi-Wan rubbed a hand across his mouth, thinking.  “Palpatine’s interfering in the Council.”

Padmé blinked.  “I wouldn’t have thought he could.”

“Unfortunately, he found a bylaw,” Obi-Wan said dryly.  “If there is a vacancy on the Council – which there is – and if it is persistent – which it has been, owing to the war – and the good of the Republic requires that the Jedi Council be full – which, arguably, it does – and the Chancellor can get a majority of the Senate in agreement – which he doesn’t need, thanks to these Sith-damned emergency powers of his…”

“He chose someone to fill the vacancy?” Padmé finished.  “I suppose I can understand why he would, but it seems like it would cause a lot of problems with the Council.  And what does it have to do with Anakin?”

“Who do you think he chose?” Obi-Wan said, lips twisted.

Padmé opened and closed her mouth a few times, frowning.  “But Anakin… he isn’t… someone the Council would usually favour, is he?”

“He wouldn’t even have been considered,” Obi-Wan said.  “Too young, too recently a Padawan.  Most Knights train one to two Padawans to Knighthood before they’re considered a Master, and a Knight would never be placed on the Council unless they were genuinely the best and only option – and even then, their appointment would likely be temporary at best.  And if they were going to choose _any_ Knight, they certainly wouldn’t choose the most controversial one in recent history, one whom many Jedi and several members of the Council disapprove of, if quietly.”

“So,” Padmé said, pressing a hand to her forehead, “the Chancellor’s gone over the heads of the Council to give Anakin a position he’s not qualified for, even though it’s probably going to cause him all sorts of political problems _and_ divide Anakin from the other Jedi, since he won’t see the political reasoning behind the move, just the Council getting upset that he’s one of them.”

“Precisely,” Obi-Wan said.  “And it gets worse.”

“How?  How could it possibly – did he insist that they made Anakin a master?”

“No, and thank the Force for that.  It would have made this into an even bigger disaster.  The Council is… displeased by this turn of events, to say the least, and suspicious of the Chancellor’s motives.  They suspect he may be planning to use the war effort to absorb the Jedi further under the Senate’s control, with the eventual aim of making us into a private army of sorts.”

Padmé frowned.  “Forgive me, Obi-Wan, but I don’t see it.”

“Neither do I, honestly,” Obi-Wan said, “but he must have had some reason to do this that we haven’t seen yet, and frankly I’m not comfortable not knowing what that is.  Neither is the Council, so they have decided to ask Anakin to keep an eye on Palpatine on our behalf.”

“You want to ask him to spy on a man he sees as a close friend,” Padmé said, tone flat.  “I see.  I see how it gets worse.”

“Unfortunately, he’s the only one with the close connection to Palpatine necessary to discover what he’s up to,” Obi-Wan said.  “If anyone else could do it, I would have recommended them instead, but as it is…”

“And what if he tells Palpatine what the Council’s asking him to do?”

Obi-Wan blinked.  “Surely you don’t think he’d do that.”

“I don’t think he’d betray the Jedi,” Padmé said.  “But deep down, he’s loyal to people, not institutions, and…”  She hesitated, but then continued, “I have known him to do very unwise things for the people he considers his.  So I think what you need to ask yourself is: who does Anakin feel he has a greater duty to?  You, the person I presume the Council has ordered to ask him to act as a spy; or the man he’ll be spying on?”

Obi-Wan covered his face with both hands and groaned.  “Thank you, Padmé, for adding yet another layer of nightmare to this.  I would hope Anakin would keep the secret, but obviously there are some areas in which you know him a great deal better than I do.”

“You’re still going to ask him.”  She doesn’t bother formulating it as a question.

“What else can I do?” Obi-Wan said.  “I’ve agreed to take this task on, both as a Jedi and as a member of the Council.  I protested, but I agreed, because I thought he’d take it best coming from me.”  He paused.  “When he comes to you, can I at least hope that you’ll help talk him down?”

“I’ll do my best,” Padmé said with a sigh.  “But I won’t make any promises.  I’m a Senator, not a Jedi.  This isn’t my fight.”

“I know.  Thank you.”

Padmé’s image winked out, and Obi-Wan set the comm down, grimacing.  Well.  This was going to go _wonderfully_ , he was sure.

 

When Obi-Wan arrived at Padmé’s apartment later, hoping that Padmé’s comm – “I think the worst has passed.  I need you to come talk to him,” – was accurate, he found Anakin scowling but not sulking.  Quite probably the best he could have hoped for, he supposed.

“Here to give me more orders, _Master?_ ”

Well.  Maybe he wasn’t entirely over it.

“Believe me, Anakin, I didn’t actually want to put this weight on your shoulders.”

“Then why _did_ you?”  Anakin’s brows were drawn, but underneath the anger in his eyes, Obi-Wan sensed a spark of hurt.  “Sheev’s been my friend for years now – he’s always supported me, helped me to understand the Senate the way you always wanted me to – how could you ask me to spy on him?”

“The Council is concerned about some of his actions.”

“You mean putting me on the Council.”  Anakin’s shoulders tensed.  “You don’t think I’m ready.”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands, “I don’t think _I’m_ ready.”

Anakin blinked at him.  “You – what?  Of course you are.”

“Nobody’s ready for the Council when they’re selected for it,” Obi-Wan said.  “Not least because, unless they’re lucky enough to know somebody who is or has been on it, they’re absolutely not prepared for the workload, or the truly bizarre problems they’re presented with, or the internecine personal politics that make all of the above so much more complicated.  I’ve been looking through the Archives, you know, and honestly?  As dreadful as it is, having so much of the responsibility of this Force-damned war on my shoulders, this may actually have been one of the easier introductions to the Council I could have had.  And I joined them with so many advantages you don’t have, Anakin.”

His words seemed to have taken the power out of Anakin’s thrusters; there was more concern than anger in his face now, as well as confusion.  “What, because you’re older?”

“Among other things,” Obi-Wan agreed.  “Shall we sit?”

Anakin followed him to the sitting room mutely, and Obi-Wan congratulated himself.  They’d have to return to the difficult topic of Sheev Palpatine eventually, but in the meantime he’d defused the situation, and would have a valuable opportunity to explain to Anakin just how difficult Palpatine’s actions were going to make his life.  Perhaps it’d make him less resistant to the idea of spying on the man, which would make his place on the Council… well, not any less contentious, but it’d soothe those members of the Council who still disliked him for his wedding to Padmé and the existence of the child.

Settled in chairs opposite one another, Obi-Wan considered how to start.  “When I say I have advantages…  Consider, first, that I don’t actually have many.  I’ve come to the Council younger than many –”

“Not younger than Mace Windu or Depa Billaba.”

“True.  But they both had considerably different circumstances than I did.  Being young, having only one Padawan trained to Knighthood, having a somewhat scandalous past – none of that helped.  If we hadn’t been in the middle of this war, I doubt I would have been considered for many years, if ever.  And if I’d been selected in any case?  It would have been contentious, at best.  There’s a reason the Council is made up of senior Masters, Anakin.  Experience not only helps them to find solutions for the problems they’re faced with and gives them the perspective necessary to understand where other Jedi are coming from, it also gives them the authority they need to command respect among the Jedi.  If you were a senior Jedi, one who’d trained many a Padawan and seen an enormous amount of the galaxy in your time, and you saw a young Knight put on the Council – one who, from your perspective, was barely an adult, one with no great accomplishments or masteries of the Force like Mace Windu or Depa Billaba – what do you suppose your reaction would be?”

Anakin shifted.  “Not good.  Probably.”

“No,” Obi-Wan agreed.  “Plenty of Jedi will be willing to see what comes of your appointment, since as far as they know the Council chose you, and not Palpatine –”

“Why are they keeping that a secret?”  Anakin was frowning.  “If you really think it’s going to upset people, wouldn’t they want to be able to… well, blame it on him?”

“Because, as far as the average Jedi knows, our governance is entirely separated from the Republic’s.  There are Jedi who are already upset with the amount of control over our movements that the Senate has gained during the war; telling them that they can even control who we choose to the Council would cause an unnecessary amount of controversy at a time when the Republic desperately needs to be united.”

“So, politics.”

“Don’t sound so glum,” Obi-Wan said, filling his voice with false cheer.  “After all, earlier today you were upset the Council didn’t want to invite you into the centre of Jedi politicking.”

“I hate you,” Anakin said, scowling at his feet.

“So you tell me on a regular basis.”  Obi-Wan settled back into the chair, slinging his leg up onto the opposite knee.  “We haven’t even gotten into the personal aspects of why the Council was reluctant about this yet.”

“What, _you’re too young and inexperienced_ wasn’t personal enough?”

“Unfortunately, no.”  Obi-Wan sighed.  “I know you’ve met Jedi who were… less than enamoured with the stories they’d heard about you.”

“You mean the people who hate me because I was too old to be a Padawan.  Or because Jedi aren’t supposed to get married.  Or have contact with their children.”

“Hate is a strong word for a Jedi.  But yes.  You’ve flouted tradition many times while part of the Temple, and Jedi tend to conservatism.  I’m not convinced that any of it was for the worse – admittedly you’ve had a harder time dealing with attachments and emotions than many crèche-raised Padawans, but for all we know that might be an inborn part of your personality, and nothing to do with entering the Temple late.  And you know my opinion of your and Padmé’s marriage already.  But very few Jedi know you as well as I do, and as far as they’re concerned, this is yet another example of Anakin Skywalker getting special treatment because he’s got more midichlorians than they do.”

Anakin winced.

“Precisely,” Obi-Wan said, eyes fixed on him.  “Palpatine’s put the Council in a difficult position – probably unintentionally, but that doesn’t matter.  If things become too difficult for them, they could always reveal his interference and damn the consequences – and, I’ll admit, that’s where his actions have me stumped.  I could see Palpatine giving you the position because he saw something in you that we missed, some aptitude for politics or war that might help us in the coming months, or because he sees you as a protégé of sorts and wanted to give you the opportunity to develop.  Some on the Council believe he did it because _he_ believes you’d be more likely to advocate his positions out of gratefulness –”

“I wouldn’t, Obi-Wan, you know that.”

“And I told them that, Anakin.  He could have misjudged you, thought you were more susceptible to that kind of pressure than you are – but that isn’t what’s bothering me, frankly.”

Anakin frowned.  “What is, then?”

“Mostly the fact that, whatever else he might be, Palpatine is a very good politician, and allowing the Council to have this sort of leverage over him is a strange choice.”

“What do you mean?” Anakin said, brows drawing deeper.

“Politicians,” Obi-Wan said, choosing his words carefully, “in my experience, are very careful about doing things that don’t put them in a good light.  Whether or not what they’re doing is actually wrong, it can look that way to their enemies and to the general public, and a politician who’s believed to be corrupt by the public won’t be a politician for long.  The fact that Palpatine has put you on the Council, despite knowing that it might backfire on him badly among the Jedi…  Well, I’m sure you can see why it has the Council worried, Anakin.”

Anakin slumped in his chair.  “I guess.”

“Which is what brings us to the Council’s decision to ask you to watch him for us, Anakin.  I don’t believe that anything untoward is actually happening, and I suspect many members of the Council agree with me, but this is out of character for him.  And, well.  Paranoia builds easily in times like this.”

“I don’t like the idea.  He’s only ever been a good friend to me, Obi-Wan.”

“I promise,” Obi-Wan said, leaning forwards, “if there was anyone else who could do this, I would have insisted that the Council ask them instead.  But you’re the only one who can find out what’s really going on, Anakin.  He doesn’t befriend many people, and I don’t believe he’s close to any other Jedi at all.”

“Mmm.”  Anakin stared down, picking at a loose thread on his robes.  “He asked me to watch you too.  Watch the Council, I mean.”

“Oh?”  Obi-Wan was very careful not to tense up, sitting back and keeping his face neutral.

“Yeah.”  He glanced up.  “I guess that doesn’t look very good either, does it?”

“Not especially, I have to admit.”  Obi-Wan paused, considering his words.  “Tell me, Anakin, why do you think he did that?”

Anakin made a face.  “I’m not a Padawan any more, Obi-Wan.  You don’t have to keep doing thought exercises with me.”

“I’m being quite serious here, Anakin.  You know Palpatine far better than I do, after all.  Why do you think he would have asked you to spy on the Council for him?”

“I don’t know,” Anakin said, raising his eyebrows.  “Maybe he noticed the Council thinks he’s up to something and he wanted to find out what they thought.  That sounds like a pretty reasonable response to _me_.”

“Possibly,” Obi-Wan said, resisting the urge to snap at Anakin.  “But I’m sure he already knows that the Council and many people in the Senate, not to mention those outside it, are keeping a very close eye on him.  Even the best men can be tempted by power, after all, and the power he’s been granted as the Chancellor has increased a great deal since the start of the war.”

“At the request of the Senate!”

“At the request of certain members of the Senate,” Obi-Wan said.  “Not all of them, by any means, and even many among those who voted for the emergency powers knew the danger inherent in doing so.  There have been many cases throughout history where a good person was tempted into seizing power by the belief that they could do more good as a dictator than could be achieved by democracy alone.”

“I know,” Anakin said with a sigh, slumping in his chair.  “I’ve heard it from Padmé often enough.  But he won’t give in, Obi-Wan.  Believe me.  I know the Chancellor well enough to trust that he’s a good man.”

“I’m glad.”  Obi-Wan studied Anakin’s face; the conviction in it was enough to let the leftover tension from the Council meeting seep out of his muscles.  “None of us want to suspect Chancellor Palpatine of wrongdoing, Anakin.  We’d all prefer to go back to meditating in the Room of a Thousand Fountains and running diplomatic missions.  But until this war is over, we’ll have to live with suspicion.”

“Well,” Anakin said, a smile stealing across his face, “I suppose we’ll just have to finish the war sooner than later, won’t we, Master?”

“I suppose we shall,” Obi-Wan agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> Protip, Anakin: _do not trust the Chancellor_.
> 
> Anyway, uh... *waves I ATEN'T DEAD sign*. Sorry for the long gap between updates, my brain decided that no creative work was good creative work for like... six months. Hopefully it will be a much shorter gap before the next update for this series. And, now that we've hit this part of the series, we get to watch Palpatine's desperate attempts to divide Anakin from the Jedi, in a universe where it's... just not working. At all. :D


End file.
